MOTHER TESTIFIES IN DEATH

The last words 2-year-old Laron Montgomery said to his mother were: "I want you to come home. I love you."

Four hours after the phone conversation with her child, Kim Montgomery's baby was dead.

Testimony in the first-degree murder trial of Brian Woodard began on Wednesday before Broward Circuit Judge Leroy Moe.

Prosecutors in the case contend that Woodard, Montgomery's fiance, had physically abused the child, who was "simply beaten to death" Aug. 14 in a Fort Lauderdale motel.

Defense attorney John Gaudiosi told the jury that Woodard had "never touched Laron in anger" and that the injuries were the result of a "tragic accident."

Laron's death gained attention last summer when it was discovered that the boy was under the supervision of the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services.

The boy had been visited by an HRS child welfare worker just hours before his death.

On Wednesday, witnesses described how Woodard gave three accounts of Laron's injuries: first, an accidental drowning; second, a body-building weight that fell on the child's stomach; and third, a karate chop to the boy's midsection not thrown in anger.

Kim Montgomery told the jury that she spoke to Laron on the phone shortly before the boy was injured and that he was crying but told her only that he loved her.

Less than two hours later, Woodard ran into the office of the motel they were living in and hysterically screamed that he had pulled the boy from the pool.

Montgomery said Woodard told her later that he lied to officials about the cause of the boy's injuries because he was afraid she would leave him if she knew he hit the child.